Stress management minus woo

shawmutt

Squirrel Murderer
shawmutt
Joined
Jan 17, 2009
Messages
2,037
Overwhelmed, overtired, overweight...

Haven't been around these forums much lately. Haven't had time to do much of anything these days. I just started school again to finish my bachelor degree. If there ever was something to tip me over the edge, starting school was it. Nothing quite like adding three hours of commuting time and three hours of class time to my already hectic schedule--but I have to try and get it done before my kids start going to school in three years or my career is going nowhere.

Pants getting tight from all the crap food I'm eating--she can't take much more Captain!

Any ideas for stress relief that don't involve "healing blue lights" or getting in touch with my inner previous lives? Preferably something that doesn't kill me in the process (like the comfort foods I'm so fond of lately)?
 
It's a time consumer, but I think any form of exercise can be useful, even if it's just a walk in the morning, maybe getting off the bus/parking the car a little ways from the school and walking half an hour. Just having a little time for the mind to wander while those endorphins are being released, etc.
Of course other forms of exercise might be even more effective: personally no matter what's going on in my life if I can go and do some brazilian jiu jitsu I completely forget about everything while I'm sparring: might be the fact that you really feel like you're fighting, but my mind completely focuses on trying to avoid getting choked, submit the other guy, etc.

Something that always works for me is reading before bed. Gets the mind off whatever **** was going on during the day, makes it easier to get to sleep, even if only half an hour of reading.

I know those are probably pretty obvious things that a lot of people already do, but I think the simple things tend to work the best. Of course all this consumes already precious time.

Congradulations by the way on going back to school! That is huge and awesome.
 
Well, three hours of commuting is perfect for audio books. The public library (at least in Los Angeles) has a considerable selection.
 
Um, I was very disappointed after I went to the best stress management training:

It went like this (condensed form):

1. Identify your personal and family traits for coping with stress.
2. Stress basically means that you are tired from overwork and/or high arousal levels. When you are tired you are easily overwhelmed.
3. Learn to develop healthy coping skills.
4. Learn to limit (without adding to your stress) unhealthy coping skills.
5. Get enough sleep, nutrition and down time.
6. Set 'signal' or 'markers' in your day that tell you "I am no longer at work", be sure to try to seperate work with boundaries, IE avoid talk about work at 'home', try to avoid work at home.
7. Get away. (Leave areas that you associate with stress, literally get away.) If you can one hour per day, one day per week, one weekend per month.
8. Find things that bring you joy, contentment and happiness. Scedule them throughout your day, week and year.

Now these can all be hard to do.
 
Mindfulness based stress reduction?

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T8V-4CWYRRD-7&_user=10&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1213378536&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=ca98eac5fe43f474f967e4323eb67122

http://www.bemindful.org/mbsrrefers.htm

http://www.mindfullivingprograms.com/whatMBSR.php

I've been doing mindfulness based cognitive therapy (for depression) which is based on the stress programme, and it seems to be helping me.

Although I assume you would need to find and go to sessions/a class for this and I don't know how practical this is for you given your time constraints.
 
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Relaxation exercises help some people.

So does time management - planning ahead when to fit things into the following day, rather than just feeling like there's a lot to do all at once.

Also, mindfulness techniques might be reasonably easy to pick up without official lessons.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I have an elliptical trainer in my house, so there's no excuse to not exercise. It's just working up the energy to get on the thing. I'm literally running around in work all day and am dead tired by the time I get home. I know that working out will give me more energy, which will help me work out more, which will give me more energy...etc. It's just getting over the hump of tired to working out. And the annoying chest pain that started after being on the elliptical for forty minutes Tuesday (I'm making a doctor's appointment if it still hurts Monday).

The weather really sucks this winter. I usually get out at least twice a month and spend Saturday morning hunting--now that's heavenly, a nice walk in the woods really takes the edge off, concentrating for small game movement and the lack of cell phone reception really takes everything off my mind. The snow and cold this year prevented any trips after deer season. The stir-craziness that resulted isn't helping my case. Turkey season and trout season is coming up, so there's still hope.

Pantaz, I usually listened to lots of podcasts, This Week in Virology, Skeptic's Guide to the Universe, Car Talk, among others. My friggin' FM transmitter broke, leaving me with radio for the last couple weeks. Radio really really sucks, especially NPR when the afternoon loop plays the same thing when I'm driving home from work, driving to school, and driving home from school. I bought and installed a hardwired transmitter, so I can finally start listening again.

Thanks for the link Prof. Yaffle. First step is not going nucking futs! lol
 
shawmutt said:
It's just getting over the hump of tired to working out. And the annoying chest pain that started after being on the elliptical for forty minutes Tuesday (I'm making a doctor's appointment if it still hurts Monday).
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Are you kidding? STOP everything that you are doing, right now, and get thee to a cardiologist. TODAY. Which of the things you're doing do you consider more important than whether you will still be alive tomorrow?

Your posts read like a horror story out a cardiologist's worst nightmare. Are you sure you're not making this up?

DC (been there, by the way)
 
meditation:

http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/Annotated+Bibliography#mjr

Mindfulness-based stress reduction and health benefits. A meta-analysis
Journal of Psychosomatic Research, Volume 57, Issue 1, Pages 35-43
P.Grossman et al.

Abstract

Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) is a structured group program that employs mindfulness meditation to alleviate suffering associated with physical, psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders. We performed a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished studies of health related studies related to MBSR.
64 empirical studies were found but only 20 reports met criteria of acceptable quality or relevance to be included in the meta-analysis. Acceptable studies covered a wide spectrum of clinical populations (e.g., pain, cancer, heart disease, depression, and anxiety), as well as stressed nonclinical groups. Both controlled and observational investigations were included. Standardized measures of physical and mental well-being constituted the dependent variables of the analysis.
Overall, both controlled and uncontrolled studies showed similar effect sizes of approximately 0.5 (P<.0001) with homogeneity of distribution.
Although derived from a relatively small number of studies, these results suggest that MBSR may help a broad range of individuals to cope with their clinical and non-clinical problems.
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A pilot study comparing the effects of mindfulness-based and cognitive-behavioral stress reduction.
The Journal of Alternative Medicine 2008 Apr;14(3):251-8.
Smith BW et al.
Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this pilot study was to compare the effects of two mind-body interventions: mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive-behavioral stress reduction (CBSR). SUBJECTS: Fifty (50) subjects were recruited from the community and took part in MBSR (n = 36) and CBSR (n = 14) courses. Participants self-selected into MBSR or CBSR courses taught at different times. There were no initial differences between the MBSR and CBSR subjects on demographics, including age, gender, education, and income. INTERVENTION: MBSR was an 8-week course using meditation, gentle yoga, and body scanning exercises to increase mindfulness. CBSR was an 8-week course using cognitive and behavioral techniques to change thinking and reduce distress.

RESULTS: MBSR subjects improved on all eight outcomes, with all of the differences being significant. CBSR subjects improved on six of eight outcomes, with significant improvements on well-being, perceived stress, and depression. Multivariate analyses showed that the MBSR subjects had better outcomes across all variables, when compared with the CBSR subjects. Univariate analyses showed that MBSR subjects had better outcomes with regard to mindfulness, energy, pain, and a trend for binge eating.

CONCLUSIONS: While MBSR and CBSR may both be effective in reducing perceived stress and depression, MBSR may be more effective in increasing mindfulness and energy and reducing pain. Future studies should continue to examine the differential effects of cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based interventions and attempt to explain the reasons for the differences.
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There's loads of evidence about the benefits of meditation - for relieving stress, for relieving chronic pain, for increasing positive mental health. And yet it remains on the "alternative" side of the aisle for no good reason other than we still have some 70s hippy new age hang up about it. It's a shame. I might start a thread on it....;)
 
andyandy said:
meditation:

http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/Annotated+Bibliography#mjr





There's loads of evidence about the benefits of meditation - for relieving stress, for relieving chronic pain, for increasing positive mental health. And yet it remains on the "alternative" side of the aisle for no good reason other than we still have some 70s hippy new age hang up about it. It's a shame. I might start a thread on it....;)
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Well the NHS now recommends it for prevention of depressive episodes in those who have already had multiple episodes, so maybe the tide is turning.
 
Professor Yaffle said:
Well the NHS now recommends it for prevention of depressive episodes in those who have already had multiple episodes, so maybe the tide is turning.
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sleepy_lioness said:
I've had MBCT on the NHS, it was fab. Am now participating in a further research study about it.
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Well that's positive news....hopefully it'll continue to grow in popularity....:)

Really based on the evidence for it efficiancy it should be being recommended by every GP in the country for every patient with a long term chronic pain condition, with stress or with depression. Can you imagine if GlobalPharmaCorp brought out a pill with the same proven health benefits, and with absolutely no side effects? It'd be marketed as a new wonder drug.....and GPs would be only too happy to prescribe it. And yet, because meditation isn't a pill, because it sounds a bit "hippy-ish", it remains woefully neglected.
 
I've never been any good with meditation, even during my wannabe Buddhist stint years ago. However, I do have some "meditative activities" that I have been neglecting for a while in favor of video games and bad time management. Things like target shooting, hunting, fishing, all have qualities of meditation. The weather has been too bad to do any of those things this year.
 
Any studies done with results quantifiable from outside the subjects own mind? I think placebos have toooo big of an effect on mental image, hard to show actual physical improvement. I'd guess some measurement would be something like lower stress hormone levels?
 
casebro said:
Any studies done with results quantifiable from outside the subjects own mind? I think placebos have toooo big of an effect on mental image, hard to show actual physical improvement. I'd guess some measurement would be something like lower stress hormone levels?
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The trouble is in cases of chronic pain and depression in particular, what's going on in the subject's own mind is what actually matters. So if person a says that treatment x has significantly reduced their pain and led to a better quality of life, that is a success. Empirical measurements in most cases are simply not possible - though this does not mean that no change has occurred.

Studies do use a range of measures:

The impact of a meditation-based stress reduction program on fibromyalgia.
General Hospital Psychiatry Sep;15(5):284-9.
Kaplan KH et al.
Abstract

Fibromyalgia is a chronic illness characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and resistance to treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program on fibromyalgia. Seventy-seven patients meeting the 1990 criteria of the American College of Rheumatology for fibromyalgia took part in a 10-week group outpatient program. Therapists followed a carefully defined treatment approach and met weekly to further promote uniformity. Patients were evaluated before and after the program. Initial evaluation included a psychiatric structured clinical interview (SCID). Outcome measures included visual analog scales to measure global well-being, pain, sleep, fatigue, and feeling refreshed in the morning. Patients also completed a medical symptom checklist, SCL-90-R, Coping Strategies Questionnaire, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire, and the Fibromyalgia Attitude Index. Although the mean scores of all the patients completing the program showed improvement, 51% showed moderate to marked improvement and only they were counted as "responders." These preliminary findings suggest that a meditation-based stress reduction program is effective for patients with fibromyalgia. (Source)
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Mindfulness training as an intervention for fibromyalgia: evidence of postintervention and 3-year follow-up benefits in well-being.
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2007;76(4):226-33.
P Grossman et al.
Abstract


BACKGROUND: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) proposes a systematic program for reduction of suffering associated with a wide range of medical conditions. Studies suggest improvements in general aspects of well-being, including quality of life, coping and positive affect, as well as decreased anxiety and depression. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study examined effects of an 8-week MBSR intervention among 58 female patients with fibromyalgia (mean, 52 +/- 8 years) who underwent MBSR or an active social support procedure.

RESULTS: Pre- to postintervention analyses indicated MBSR to provide significantly greater benefits than the control intervention on most dimensions, including visual analog pain, Quality of Life subscales, coping with pain, anxiety, depression and somatic complaints (Cohen d effect size, 0.40-1.10). Three-year follow-up analyses of MBSR participants indicated sustained benefits for these same measures (effect size, 0.50-0.65).

CONCLUSIONS: Based upon a quasi-randomized trial and long-term observational follow-up, results indicate mindfulness intervention to be of potential long-term benefit for female fibromyalgia patients. (Source)
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Re stress, I couldn't find something on meditation, but here is a study with an empirical result - this time using simple journaling techniques:

Emotional disclosure through writing or speaking modulates latent Epstein-Barr virus antibody titers
BA Esterling, MH Antoni, et al.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1994, vol 62, no 1, 130-140
Full Text PDF


Abstract

Healthy Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) seropositive undergraduates (N = 57) completed a personality inventory, provided blood samples, and were randomly assigned to write or talk about stressful events, or to write about trivial events, during three weekly 20-min sessions, after which they provided a final blood sample. Individuals assigned to the verbal/stressful condition had significantly lower EBV antibody titers (suggesting better cellular immune control over the latent virus) after the intervention than those in the written/stressful group, who had significantly lower values than those in the written/trivial control group. Subjects assigned to the written/stressful condition expressed more negative emotional words than the verbal/stressful and control groups and more positive emotional words than the verbal/stressful group at each time point. The verbal/stressful group expressed more negative emotional words compared with the control group at baseline. Content analysis indicated that the verbal/stressful group achieved the greatest improvements in cognitive change, self-esteem, and adaptive coping strategies. (source)
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http://tmswiki.wetpaint.com/page/Annotated+Bibliography
 
re measureable physiological changes during meditation - it seems a relatively new area of investigation (not sure why as meditation has been around a while....)

A systematic review of neurobiological and clinical features of mindfulness meditations.
Psychol Med. 2009 Nov 27:1-14. [Epub ahead of print]
A Chiesa et al.

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness meditation (MM) practices constitute an important group of meditative practices that have received growing attention. The aim of the present paper was to systematically review current evidence on the neurobiological changes and clinical benefits related to MM practice in psychiatric disorders, in physical illnesses and in healthy subjects.

Method: A literature search was undertaken using Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, the Cochrane collaboration database and references of retrieved articles. Controlled and cross-sectional studies with controls published in English up to November 2008 were included.

RESULTS: Electroencephalographic (EEG) studies have revealed a significant increase in alpha and theta activity during meditation. Neuroimaging studies showed that MM practice activates the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and that long-term meditation practice is associated with an enhancement of cerebral areas related to attention. From a clinical viewpoint, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) has shown efficacy for many psychiatric and physical conditions and also for healthy subjects, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is mainly efficacious in reducing relapses of depression in patients with three or more episodes, Zen meditation significantly reduces blood pressure and Vipassana meditation shows efficacy in reducing alcohol and substance abuse in prisoners. However, given the low-quality designs of current studies it is difficult to establish whether clinical outcomes are due to specific or non-specific effects of MM.

Discussion: Despite encouraging findings, several limitations affect current studies. Suggestions are given for future research based on better designed methodology and for future directions of investigation.
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